1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a system for increasing and decreasing the size of a storage container and, more particularly, to a system for increasing and decreasing the size of an agricultural materials storage container positioned on an agricultural vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The present invention relates to an improved system for storing agricultural material. It is known in the prior art to provide harvesting and threshing machines, typically called combines, for the collection and storage of agricultural materials, such as grain. Typically, combines have an onboard storage bin of a fixed capacity. While it is desirable to increase the capacity of such storage bins, it is also desirable to provide a combine with a minimum height to allow the combine to be transported on roads and underneath stoplights electrical wires.
Although agricultural vehicles are typically used in agricultural fields, it is often necessary to transport the agricultural vehicles via roadways. As roadways contain many overhead obstacles, including power lines and street lights, it is desirable to maintain the size of the agricultural vehicle below a particular height during transport to avoid undesired contact and damage associated with these overhead obstacles. Conversely, when in the field, there are very few overhead obstacles. It would, therefore, be desirable when the vehicle is in the field to increase the size of the agricultural material storage container so as to allow the vehicle to carry more agricultural material onboard.
While it is known in the art to provide a collapsible material storage container, such prior art containers typically involve sides, the tops of which collapse downward and inward for transport. One drawback associated with this orientation is the inability to provide the collapsible storage container with a cover. As the dimensions of the top of the prior art collapsible storage containers decreases as it collapses, any cover must typically be removed before the collapsible material container is collapsed, and reattached after the collapsible material container is expanded. It would, therefore, be desirable to provide a collapsible material storage container to which a cover may be attached and maintained during collapsing and expansion of the container.
It is also known in the art to provide assemblies on top of grain storage material. Prior art devices such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,358,141, which is incorporated herein by reference, utilize a supplemental material storage container positioned above the grain storage container. This orientation allows for additional storage area and/or the collection of two different agricultural materials at the same time.
As the tops of the sides of the prior art collapsible storage container collapse downward and inward, they are not capable of sustaining a large load. Accordingly, prior art systems which utilize a supplemental storage container on top of the grain storage area cannot be used in association with prior art collapsible storage containers. It would, therefore, be desirable to provide a collapsible storage container with means for expanding the collapsible material storage container against heavy loads, such as those encountered when supplemental material containers or the like are positioned above the collapsible material storage container.
It is known in the prior art to provide a supplemental material container positioned above the main agricultural material container. The prior art, however, does not teach any way to decrease the height of the supplemental material agricultural container to allow maximum clearance of the agricultural vehicle during transport on roadways. It would, therefore, be desirable to provide a mechanism for collapsing a supplemental material storage container. It would additionally be desirable to provide a collapsible supplemental container having an unobstructed interior to facilitate the unloading of agricultural material. It would also be desirable to provide a collapsible agricultural material container without internal mechanicals obstructing unloading systems.
Based on the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide an adjustable capacity grain bin to allow the bin to handle an increased amount of agricultural material in use, and to allow the height of the combine or other agricultural vehicle to which it is attached to have a decreased vertical height during transport. It would also be desirable to provide a grain bin of adjustable capacity which may alternatively be provided with a large lifting means for the adjustability of the grain bin when a weight is positioned on top of the grain bin, and for a grain bin with the adjustability feature being placed exterior of the grain bin to allow for the use of systems which require open access across the interior of the grain bin.
The difficulties encountered in the prior art discussed hereinabove are substantially eliminated by the present invention.